Radio music was a modernizing force in a country that was still deeply conservative and slowly recovering from the brief civil war of 1929, when the progressive King Amanullah was deposed by a religious backlash that foreshadowed the extremes of the Taliban nearly 50 years later. Radio made it possible for amateur musicians to give voice in public. Some became professional, such as Ahmad Zahir, son of a former prime minister, and the nearest Kabul came to a Presley or a Sinatra. Even more significant was the way that broadcasting overturned popular prejudices that connected women singers with prostitution.

Mahwash's rise to fame owed much to another famous Kabuli musician, Ustad Mohammad Hashem, whose ancestors came from India and were brought to Kabul in the 1860s as court musicians by the then ruler, Sher Ali Khan. Hashem was recognized as an ustad , a "master musician", for his artistry in playing the tabla drums. He was also a multi-instrumentalist, singing and playing various stringed instruments. In 1976 he proudly played me his latest recording, five minutes of virtuoso tapping on a matchbox and scraping its corrugated sides, like a washboard. "See," he said. "I can make music out of anything." He followed the path of mystical Islam (Sufism) and believed in the spirituality of music - ideas that were diametrically opposed to the Puritanism of the Taliban.

According to afghanland.com sources, Hashem became Mahwash's mentor, and composed many songs for her to sing over the radio. One of the best known was O Bacheh (Oh Boy), which brings together half a dozen regional songs in one extended modernized song cycle. Not all musicians were impressed. One said to me: "What's this? 'Oh boy, oh boy. Come so we can dance the cha cha cha. Let's dance to the Logari tunes?' This poetry is trite, it has no meaning."

But Hashem also taught his protégée some Indian classical singing - and, on the basis of this, Mahwash was awarded the title of ustad in 1977 by the ministry for information and culture. This was a controversial step, as the honorific is normally reserved for men.

Mahwash's regular accompanists were Hashem on  harmonium, and his two younger brothers, Asif and Arif, who both play tabla drums. The three Mahmood brothers dominated the world of classical tabla playing in Kabul. They numbered several Americans among their many students, and in 1978 toured the US. That same year, Taraki staged his coup and a communist government took over the country. The golden age of music had come to an end.

Mahwash and the Mahmood brothers remained in Kabul. The communists were great patrons of music, which they regarded as a sign of social progress, but there was heavy censorship. Songs in any way supportive of the rebels were banned, and artists were often asked to perform songs on radio in praise of the regime. While Kabul remained relatively secure and free from fighting, in the provinces the war raged and many thousands of Afghans were killed by the communist government and the Soviet troops who had been sent in to support it.

It was a time of deep uncertainty, with younger men likely to be called up to fight. Many lived in fear of a midnight visit from the secret police. One by one, the three brothers escaped: Hashem to Germany, Asif to London, Arif to Pakistan. Mahwash stayed in Kabul until 1991, when she too managed to get to Pakistan. I met her that year in Islamabad, living in fear of assassination from both sides in the war. President Najib had reminded her that one in every 10 Afghan refugees in Pakistan was an agent of Khad, Afghanistan's secret police, and that she would be assassinated for deserting her homeland. And the mujahiddin threatened her life because she was a singer - a woman singer - who had remained in Kabul.

Philippe Labreveux of the UNHCR in Islamabad heard of her plight, and organized recording sessions for a cassette to celebrate UNHCR's 40th anniversary. Hashem's brother Arif accompanied her on tabla. Through the contacts made with the UN, and in recognition of the special threat to her life, she was granted political asylum in the US. For the past 10 years she has lived in California.

Mahwash's teacher, Hashem, died in Germany, but, she reunited with his two brothers, Asif and Arif, at the London Concert for Afghanistan, on March 14 2002 a charity event in aid of Care, Medicines sans Frontières, Ockenden International and Save the Children. They were joined by Asif's son, Yusuf, another exceptional tabla and harmonium player, who is music director for the concert. With Yusuf dipping for his uncle Hashem, they recreated Mahwash songs from the past, and offer the kind of tabla trio performance that was once the talk of the cognoscenti of Kabul.

Ustad Mahwash has performed in many European cities in 2001 and toured the Americas. She has received many awards including the award of "Golden Voice" in Europe and the first afghan singer to receive the coveted "Janis Joplin Award" 

Afghanland.com all rights reserved